Scott Peters is a conservative San Diego New Dem, a multimillionaire (8th richest Member of Congress) who bought himself a seat in Congress in 2012 by writing his campaign a $2,757,452 check and outspending his Republican opponent, incumbent Brian Bilbray $4,352,737 to $2,772,270. Newly redistricted, CA-52 is way bluer than it’s ever been before, a D+2 district that takes in most of the city of San Diego before heading north to La Jolla along the coast and out to Poway and Rancho Bernardo inland. Under these line, Obama won the district 55-43% against McCain and 52-46% against Romney. Peters beat Bilbray 151,451 (51%) to 144,459 (49%) in 2012. This year Peters hasn’t self-funded much ($71,659) but as on the June 30 FEC filing deadline he had collected $2,554,980. His GOP opponent, Carl DeMaio raised $2,232,048. The DCCC and NRCC have spent almost identical amounts on ads, $1,661,848 and $1,669,047, respectively.It isn’t the kind of race Blue America would ever get involved with. Both candidates are putrid and neither deserves to be in public office. “Lesser of two evils” doesn’t even begin to describe the choice voters are being asked to make between these two shady conservative shitheads.The two most recent polls, both by SurveyUSA show a close race but with some momentum for DeMaio. Their September poll showed Peters ahead 47-46% and the poll they released last week showed DeMaio beating Peters 48-45%.
Compared to a SurveyUSA poll 3 weeks ago, DeMaio is up 2 points, Peters is down 2 points. Poll-on-poll, there is movement among men, where the Republican is now up by 12, and there is movement among independent voters, where the Republican is now up by 18. Voters say that "integrity" is the most important issue when filling out their ballot, and on that issue, DeMaio leads narrowly 50% to 46%. Second most important is the issue of "fiscal responsibility," and on that issue, DeMaio leads overwhelmingly, 81% to 15%. Peters leads on 3 and DeMaio leads on 2 of the following 5 attributes:• More trustworthy? 48% say DeMaio, 44% say Peters.• Stronger on transportation issues? DeMaio 42%, Peters 40%. • In sync with you on same-sex marriage? Peters 44%, DeMaio 38%. • In sync with you on abortion? Peters 45%, DeMaio 37%. • In sync with you on veterans affairs? Peters 46% to DeMaio's 43%.
Friday, however, Peters got his lucky break, a game-changer, likely to effect DeMaio’s big gender gap among males. It’s the biggest political story in San Diego and CNN made it a national story as well. Watch the shocking video up top.
Charges of sexual misconduct, plagiarism and burglary have pitted a former staffer against a high-profile congressional candidate just weeks before the midterm elections.The drama is unfolding in a city that just weathered a sexual harassment scandal ending the career of its Democratic mayor. The latest accusations by a former campaign aide could derail the career of up-and-coming Republican Carl DeMaio.In a story of charges and counter charges, the one constant is this: they both insist the other is lying.DeMaio has won national name recognition as a "new generation Republican," calling on his party to ditch social issues and winning plaudits for helping the Grand Old Party shed what many see as its intolerant image.The openly gay, former San Diego city councilman has won support from GOP heavyweights like Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner and even former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.But behind the scenes, things are much messier. DeMaio's former campaign policy director is accusing the candidate of sexual harassment, even saying DeMaio masturbated in front of him. DeMaio vehemently denies the allegations, saying they're the cover story of a plagiarist and suspected criminal.This is not the first time DeMaio has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior. Last year, a fellow city councilman said he twice caught DeMaio masturbating in a city hall restroom— an allegation DeMaio denied.Todd Bosnich says he joined DeMaio's campaign last year eager to work for a candidate who shared his values and who, like himself, is an openly gay Republican.But Bosnich said his enthusiasm for his boss was soon replaced by dread, because DeMaio would find him alone and make inappropriate advances, massaging and kissing his neck and groping him.One morning last April, Bosnich said he arrived early at campaign headquarters and DeMaio called him back to his office."I came over to his office, door was open. And he was masturbating," Bosnich said. "I saw his hand, his penis in his hand and he had a smile on his face. And as soon as I came over he was looking at me."There was no mistaking what was happening, he said.Bosnich said the harassment that culminated that spring morning started months before, when DeMaio drove Bosnich back to his car after drinks with the staff at a local bar."We were making small talk on the way back. And when he pulled up to my car, he reached over into my lap and grabbed my crotch. And I flipped out. And I pushed his hand away," Bosnich said. "I just was shocked because I'd never had anyone do something like that to me, especially in a position of authority and trust. And, at the time, I just figured, well, maybe he was drunk and blew it off. But he progressively and progressively, the inappropriate touching incidents continued from there."It was several more months, Bosnich said, before he mentioned the behavior to campaign manager Tommy Knepper, who laughed it off."'That's just the way Carl is,'" Bosnich recalls Knepper saying. "And that if I really felt that uncomfortable I shouldn't have let him know that I'm a gay man."Knepper, Bosnich said, was blaming him."He was implying that it's my fault, that it's incumbent on me to stop Carl DeMaio from these behaviors," Bosnich said. "And I was really offended."It wasn't until a few weeks after the masturbation incident, Bosnich said, that he confronted DeMaio, telling him to either stop the harassment or drop out of the race."It was the very next day, in the morning, that the campaign manager called me into his office and said that Carl lost his trust in me and that he'd terminated me," Bosnich said. "He offered me a position in the county Republican Party and also told me to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $50,000."Bosnich said he considered the offer "an attempt to bribe me to keep my silence."He left the campaign, he said, without taking any money or signing any papers. A day before the primary, Bosnich recorded an interview with a local conservative radio station outlining his allegations, but the interview never aired.…This is not the first time DeMaio has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior. Last year, a fellow city councilman, Ben Hueso, said he twice caught DeMaio masturbating in a semi-private city hall restroom accessible only to city officials.The Democrat declined an interview request, but councilwoman Marti Emerald said she learned about the 2009 incident immediately after Hueso witnessed it. On the way to the women's room, she said she literally bumped into Huseo as he exited the men's room across the hall."He was furious; he looked like something serious had just happened," Emerald said. "He said DeMaio was in there (masturbating). And I said do you want to grab a police officer and have him arrested? Because this is a violation of the (city) code. He said no, but he was pretty upset."It's a claim DeMaio denied— even saying he took a polygraph test to support his denial, but he declined to provide the results to CNN."This lie crossed the line. It's so gross. It's so untrue. It's so humiliating that it demands a response," DeMaio said last year.Bosnich also took an independent lie detector test to support his allegations, a copy of which Bosnich's attorney provided to CNN. The report said Bosnich's answers were "truthful" and found "no deception.""It corroborated my account of being sexually harassed by Carl DeMaio," Bosnich said.Bosnich also denied that he was the one who plagiarized from National Journal."Carl authored the report. And I offered input on it. But in terms of the final draft, in terms of the, even the composition of it, that was from Carl, as he admitted to the National Journal,” he said.
Embarrassing for the gay community? Well… it takes a very sick mind for a gay person to join the Republican Party and even when they come out of the closet, it would probably take decades of intense psychological therapy for someone like DeMaio— not to mention Lindsay Graham, Aaron Schock, Patrick McHenry, Mitch McConnell— to begin behaving like a normal person. Carl DeMaio happens to be gay. His sickness is that he chose to be a Republican, exactly the same kind of mental illness that Jews who supported Hitler’s Nazi Party in 1930s Germany.
